Quotessence
Home / Authors / Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche Quotes

Lama

Filter quotes by topic

AllMindMeditationIfsDeathDyingSpiritualRealKnowsLife IsMomentsOur LivesWaySufferingCompassionDiesMastersPeoplePracticeRealizingWhole

Famous Sogyal Rinpoche Quotes

“This world can seem marvellously convincing until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place. What will happen to us then if we have no clue of any deeper reality?”

IfsWorldRealitySeemsHappensThis WorldIllusionDeeperHidingCollapseClueConvincingHiding Place
Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
Create image

“Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we´re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that, with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, our mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity.”

IfsKnowsMindWellsDarkPracticeMeditationHonestMastersDisciplineEssentialsTrainingIllusionTasksSlaveryAddictionConfusionClarityBlissSubtleMeditation PracticeAdeptSuppleTime Patience
Book:Glimpse After Glimpse: Daily Reflections on Living and Dying
Create image

“Perhaps the deepest reason we are afraid of death is that we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity; but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography", our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit card ... It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are?”

IfsKnowsBelieveIdeasReasonHomeJobsSpiritualNamesSupportTakenSecurityIdentityDependsUniqueDareCreditPartnersEndlessCardsRelyWho We AreCollectionsFragileBiographiesCredit CardPropsTransientAfraid Of DeathFamily Home
Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
Create image

“We often wonder: "How will I be when I die?" The answer to that is that whatever state of mind we are in now, whatever kind of person we are now, that's what we will be like at the moment of death, if we do not change. This is why it is so absolutely important to use this lifetime to purify our mindstream, and so our basic being and character, while we can.”

IfsMindKindPersonsImportantStatesMomentsCharacterUseDeathDiesAnswersWonderDyingLifetimeState Of Mind
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image

“There would be no chance at all of getting to know death if it happened only once. But fortunately, life is nothing but a continuing dance of birth and death, a dance of change. Every time I hear the rush of a mountain stream, or the waves crashing on the shore, or my own heartbeat, I hear the sound of impermanence. These changes, these small deaths, are our living links with death. They are death's pulses, death's heartbeat, prompting us to let go of all the things we cling to.”

IfsKnowsWould BeLife IsDeathSoundChanceMy OwnHappenedDyingBirthMountainLetting GoWaveStreamsLinksShoreContinuingReincarnationHeartbeatPulseImpermanenceBirth And DeathMountain StreamsBirth Life And Death
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image

“If all we know of mind is the aspect of mind that dissolves when we die, we will be left with no idea of what continues, no knowledge of the new dimension of the deeper reality of the nature of mind. So it is vital for us all to familiarize ourselves with the nature of mind while we are still alive. Only then will we be prepared for the time when it reveals itself spontaneously and powerfully at the moment of death; be able to recognize it "as naturally," the teachings say, "as a child running into its mother's lap"; and by remaining in that state, finally be liberated.”

IfsKnowsMindChildrenStillsIdeasStatesMomentsRealityRunningAbleDeathMotherDiesLeftAliveTeachingDyingAspectPreparedDeeperNo IdeaDimensionsBe PreparedLapLiberated
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image

“At the moment of death, there are two things that count: whatever we have done in our lives, and what state of mind we are in at that very moment. Even if we have accumulated a lot of negative karma, if we are able to make a real change of heart at the moment of death, it can decisively influence our future, and transform our karma, for the moment of death is an exceptionally powerful opportunity to purify karma.”

IfsMindHeartTwoRealStatesDoneMomentsAbleDeathOpportunityPowerfulOur LivesInfluenceDyingNegativeKarmaTwo ThingsOur FutureState Of MindReal ChangeChange Of HeartNegative Karma
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image

“Ask yourself these two questions: Do I remember at every moment that I am dying, and that everyone and everything else is, and so treat all beings at all times with compassion? Has my understanding of death and impermanence become so keen and so urgent that I am devoting every second to the pursuit of enlightenment? If you can answer "yes" to both of these, then you really understand impermanence.”

IfsTwoMomentsRememberDeathAsksUnderstandingAnswersCompassionDyingEnlightenmentTreatsPursuitAll TimeUrgentImpermanenceEvery Second
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image

“Each time the losses and deceptions of life teach us about impermanence, they bring us closer to the truth. When you fall from a great height, there is only one possible place to land: on the ground-the ground of truth. And if you have the understanding that comes from spiritual practice, then falling is in no way a disaster, but the discovery of an inner refuge.”

IfsWaySpiritualFallUnderstandingLossTeachPracticeLandDiscoveryDisasterDeceptionHeightRefugeImpermanenceSpiritual PracticeLife TeachesGreat Heights
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
Create image